Patrick is a Ugandan Entrepreneur, acclaimed film maker and Ad-man, whose company Xibra, markets mobile platform solutions and provides creative communication services.
He has worked with leading brands like Google, MTN Uganda and South African Tourism Board. Patrick's writing brings a fresh new perspective to Technology, marketing and secrets to success
This blog is inspired by the numerous walks he take to the kiosk (Duuka).

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

My Top 3 predictions for 2016

Shift of wealth and power to the millennials (20 - 35 year old's)

This group of people who have steadily be rising in management positions and growing their own businesses, is going to be the new middle class where the wealth is going to be highly concentrated. The explanation is simple. Millenials grew up in the era of technology which makes them the most tech savvy generation. Over time, millnials have been reinventing products in the market like Mobile mobile money to meet the e-commerce objectives. Eventually what is happening is that millenials have made solutions for their own generation and since they are currently make up majority of the working population with a disposable income, they are creating an ecosystem of their own that is going to warrant the rest of the population to leverage off their knowledge. Having the purchase power to propel a product to the top seller list is what's going to empower this generation.

Companies will therefore will need to figure out how to capture this market segment of customers, otherwise, ideas off the mill are going to hit the fan. The rise of the millennials also means that more baby boomers (60 -80 years) will be heading into retirement and this means companies who market products exclusively to this group of people will experience a hit at their revenue because of their clients dwindling disposable income.

On the political front, if the news is anything to go by, the youth are going to run the show. Finding the right message that resonates among them is going to be the key to winning the election. I am currently aware of four of my friends who have made their political agendas known.

Increased expenditure will augment the incomes of young creative minds who have products that will put candidates ahead of competition. Let the games begin.

This is going to be the most fair election (So far)

Last year, through a partnership with United Nations Populations Fund (UNFP), Uganda finally carried out two major exercises that had been stalling; National ID card issuance and a National census. Which were both done in a space of two months, yet they had previously stalled for as far back as five years.

But not this time. My assumption is that it is very important to President Museveni for Uganda to hold a free and fair election because it will play a pivotal role in defining our international and donor relations. And being able to account for citizens is the first step in that.

I reckon government workers will have to up their game to get complete pending projects because the president is clearly focused on legacy.

The gay issue is going to dominate the agenda. The government will use it as a spin tactic and the opposition/independents will use it as the basis of their campain. This election will not be won by the the man with a plan (clearly we now know how that pans out) but rather the man who has a proven track record in being helpful to his community, which is going to pose an uphill battle for incumbents who are going to be put to the test to account for how they spent their term.

Explosion of the app industry

Great strides are going to be made in e-commerce this year which in turn will grow the number of people who opt for online payments. Factoring in the projected exponential growth of smartphone and internet uptake, companies are going to realize that they need apps in order to provide a refreshed online experience for their products and services. And if the app built for president Museveni is anything to go by, politicians are going to look to the tech industry to develop products that will put them ahead of the contestants.

And since app are a technology mostly used and built by millennials, you can understand why this class of people's income is going to exponentially grow.